Marguerite Nering

Marguerite Nering

Marguerite Nering has been active in the music business for more than 50 years with her roots in Medicine Hat. She is from the town of Tilley and spent time in Medicine Hat before working in Edmonton and Calgary, along the way earning a PHD in music. During her time in Medicine Hat in the 50s and 60s she spent a great deal of time performing at the Elks Club and getting involved in musical theatre and other community projects as well as teaching. She has travelled the world working in piano lounges and cruise ships.

Marguerite Nering

An early picture of Marguerite at the piano….about 1956?? From an early age she was able to amaze with her boogie- woogie piano playing.

Marguerite Nering

When Marguerite was still living in the small town of Tilley she was already learning her craft working with local band leader Norman Oberhammer and working at the Brooks Elks hall every weekend. This may be about 1955?? Many players from that era will recall working with the Combo Orch series of books, which would give a band an instant library of arrangements that, if played properly, sounded quite good. I still have a number of them from which I learned to sight read chords as a teenager.

Marguerite Nering- John Fyke- Don Leppard

When Marguerite Nering moved to Medicine Hat she joined the Med Hatters big band and this shot from about 1959?? shows her with fellow players L to R…guitarist John Fyke, Marguerite, drummer Don Leppard, clarinetist Jim Crane. (See The Med Hatters)

Marguerite with drummer Don Leppard about 1959??. Both went on to have long and successful careers in music and have remained good friends up to this day. (See Lemmana Septet , The Med Hatters, John Fyke for more Don Leppard).

Marguerite Nering

While attending university in Edmonton Marguerite had to study another instrument so she chose cello and violin.

Marguerite Nering- Bill Noviski

During the late 60s it wasn’t all Country music or Rock n’ Roll in Medicine Hat and the Nering Trio ( or Quartet) provided a sophisticated alternative at the newly built Elks Club. This photo has Bill Noviski on trumpet, Marguerite Nering on piano and maybe Patrick O’Neill ?? on drums.

Marguerite Nering- Dave Close

Marguerite was asked to join the Dave Close Trio who were playing at the Elks Club in 1966. Drummer Dave Close ,in the photo, soon left and turned the room over to Marguerite. This is a picture taken New Years Eve of 1966 at the Elks Club.

Marguerite Nering- Bill Noviski

A late 1960s photo of the Nering Trio during the Elks Club era….Ernie Block ( a big band leader from Lethbridge who often would play drums for Marguerite) and Bill Noviski, who Marguerite considers one of the finest musicians she has worked with.

Margurite Nering – Harry Viener

A cool picture of Marguerite (violin), Ivy Anderson and popular Mayor Harry Veiner when Marguerite served as president for Canada Music Week. Harry was Mayor from 1952 to 1966 and again from 1968 to 1974.

Marguerite Nering

During the 1960s and 1970s the Elks Club and the Legion were very popular places to have dinner and to go out for an evening of music and dancing. Marguerite always a had bands that appealed to “adult” crowds. This photo is likely from the early 1970s (??) and shows Marguerite and drummer Patrick O’Neill.

A promo picture for the Nering Quartet in the early 1970s. (??) L to R…Rod Schlacter, Bill Noviski, Marguerite Nering, Jim Nering.

Marguerite Nering

The front page of this web site mentions states that in the 1960s and 1970s there were so many venues in Medicine Hat that offered live entertainment on a nightly basis and that market has all but dried up today. The above newspaper ad bears out that statement in that the Elks offered 4 nights a week of live entertainment, a great thing for local players.

Marguerite Nering

To further illustrate how much music was being presented in Medicine Hat in the 1960s and 1970s here is another newspaper ad for the Elks Club with 4 nights of entertainment and 2 bands working on Saturday night including the always popular Marguerite Nering.

Marguerite Nering

At the risk of over emphasizing how much music was going on in Medicine Hat in the 1960s and 1970s here is a newspaper ad promoting an evening of entertainment at the Legion which featured 3 acts in one night.